Eight month old BF baby - does she need water too?

[Tinasan]

I've always BF my 8 month old DD, didn't bother with expressing as I live far from family and so didn't have anyone to babysit - no problem at all, but it's meant that she doesn't have a clue how to drink from a bottle or cup. I'm now trying to get her to take a drink of water with her meals and it's really difficult to get her to take more than a few sips from the cup. She's pretty much demand fed so usually has about 4-5 BF per day (I've managed to drop the night feed this week). Does anyone know if she really needs water with her meals? And any advice on how to help her to start drinking from the cup? It's a basic Tommee Tippee 'spillable' one as she can't get anything at all from the non-spill cups, she just chews the end with a puzzled look on her face...


thanks!
Thanks!

[JodieG1]

She doesn't need water as she's bf but it's fine to give her some. A few sips is good and enough for now, she'll get used to it

[mistresstara]

you could try a doidy cup, on offer on the NCT webshop

[Amberjee]

tinasan, my 6 month old is similar, no clue how to use bottles or any cup you have to suck from, so we've just been using the doidy cup and he has a few sips with meals just to get used to it. but they don't really need it if they're still demand breastfed.

[callmeovercautious]

It is a case of making the cup a part of her little world. This is what we did if it helps:

I gave DD (also ex bf) the same TT cup with water in it, she played with it as a toy for ages (a couple of weeks I think) before I started showing her the spout goes in her mouth. It was a gradual process but now she holds the handles and drinks from it by herself. I found teaching her the sign for drink helped as now she looks at the cup and signs drink so I can pass it if it is out of her reach. She is 10m and we started this at 6m.

The cup is always on her tray at meal times. We don't offer it at any other time unless the weather is very warm but it is always on the side table for her to see so if she wants it she just asks.

[mawbroon]

I skipped the whole sippy cup thing with my ds and went straight to an open cup at 6 months. He fairly quickly got the hang of drinking from it and could do it by himself without spilling everywhere after a while. Of course, there is accidental spilling but also the deliberate tipping it all out that he does if I don't take it away from him. . I also taught him how to drink from a normal bottle so that if we are out somewhere, we can share a bottle of water rather than having to lug water for me and water for him. He is also able to drink out of milk cartons and the like with a wee bit of help from me so we are never stuck.